Chapter 36. White-Haired Clan (2)

“Hand it over if you value your life.”

She glared at me with hostility.

If looks could kill, I would have been riddled with holes and spitting blood, her momentum was so fierce.

Adina, who had hidden behind me at some point, was fidgeting nervously, gauging the situation.

“Not only were you banished, but you dare steal a precious artifact from the clan? There’s a limit to our benevolence. Don’t further tarnish the clan’s honor. That’s all I have to say.”

She looked back and forth between Adina and me without a word.

But she didn't give me a second glance. It seemed, as she said, her business was solely with Adina.

‘Did she not say anything yet?’

Of course, Adina *was* the culprit behind the Rune theft, which was the cause of this whole incident, but I was the one who ultimately pocketed it.

I received the Rune in exchange for accepting Adina into our group.

Naturally, I thought that in a situation like this, she, being a coward, would immediately rat me out, but her loyalty was a little unexpected, to be honest.

I casually joined the conversation.

“Are you the leader of the White-Haired Clan?”

At my question, she frowned and snapped,

“Outsiders should stay out of clan business. And…”

Her gaze slowly shifted to Arkan. She spoke in a strangely subdued voice.

“Great Lord. What business do you have here? You’re not thinking of interfering in clan matters as an outsider, are you?”

“Huh? Why would I? Handle your family squabbles yourselves. As long as you don’t cause me any trouble, I have no intention of interfering.”

“Then I’d appreciate it if you would leave. I have business with only this child.”

At that moment, I sensed the approach of other presences.

It was the presence of other members of the White-Haired Clan who had been watching from behind.

Typical Beastmen—I didn't know how many of them had come to catch just one person.

At a glance, there seemed to be at least twenty, and judging by their posture, it looked like they were ready for a fight.

My expression hardened involuntarily.

Adina tugged on my sleeve and asked anxiously,

“E-Excuse me… what should we do?”

“Well, I’m not sure either.”

It didn’t seem like we could just gloss over this, and judging by their eyes, they were fierce enough to go to war to achieve their objective.

The aggression known as a characteristic of Beastmen didn’t apply to all clans.

Rather, the purer the clan’s bloodline and the deeper its history, the stronger their pride and belligerence.

And the White-Haired Clan stood at the apex of that.

It made sense, since their ancestor was the Sacred Beast Baekmo Gumiho, the first to set foot in the transcendent realm.

Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that the history of the White-Haired Clan was intertwined with the entire history of Beastmen, and the individual combat power of each clan member wasn't to be trifled with.

Especially the woman glaring at me right now; she was the current leader of the White-Haired Clan, and she wouldn’t be outmatched even compared to the Lords of the Monarch Council.

“Eek…!”

That's why Adina was trembling so much. Honestly, the only ones who could stop her here were Arkan, and…

‘…Just me?’

I turned my gaze towards Arkan.

She was watching us with a strange smile, as if she had found some amusement after a long time.

I had a gut feeling that hoping for her help was a futile wish.

I sighed and said calmly,

“……That’s enough.”

“Stay out of this, human.”

“That’s going to be a little difficult. As you can see, we’re traveling together.”

“Traveling together? With a human?”

She glared at Adina and spat out the words,

“…So it’s true that you're living with a human.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s obvious. A member of the White-Haired Clan dares to associate with a human? An idiot with no sense of honor is tarnishing the face of the clan.”

“Honor? You mean the petty and narrow-minded honor that banishes a young clan member from the pack because she’s a coward?”

“……What?”

“The honor of the White-Haired Clan was to embrace fellow clan members, especially young children, regardless of the reason. In that sense, *you* are the one tarnishing the face of the clan. Not this clueless kid.”

I met her gaze.

I could tell at a glance that she was the leader of this group.

“So leave. Stop making a fuss in someone else’s territory.”

I gave a forceful warning.

Beastmen weren’t a species that listened to gentle persuasion, so I deliberately provoked her further.

I could feel Adina looking at me in surprise.

She probably didn’t expect me to openly take her side like this.

But I had no choice.

Since I had taken the Rune, I couldn't escape responsibility.

“You’ve crossed the line.”

The hostility piercing my skin intensified.

The watching Beastmen began to encircle us.

Adina trembled with a darkened expression at the increasingly hostile atmosphere.

I glanced at Rudine.

The corners of her lips were slowly rising.

The thick killing intent filling the air seemed to excite her. A red light flashed in her opened Red Eyes, and the aura of the Heavenly Star of Slaughter emanating from her soul was gradually filling my Mind’s Eye.

“I’ll ask one last time. Where is the precious artifact you stole?”

“Do I really have to answer that?”

“Answer the question properly.”

I lifted one corner of my lips.

“You mean this?”

I had pretended not to know until now, but now that the situation had escalated to this point, it wasn’t something I could avoid.

I had known from the moment I absorbed the Rune of Time that this situation would arise.

Since things had come this far, it was better to be honest. With Arkan watching from the sidelines, trying to escape the situation with lies wasn’t a wise move either.

So, I recited the prepared answer.

“I used it.”

“……What?”

“I said I used it. I used it myself.”

What else could I do?

Call her bluff.

That's what I *intended* to do.

“Ha.”

Woooong.

A bright blue spiral sphere, like a star, appeared above her right palm.

And then.

“The price of your lies will be your life.”

Crackle!!

The spiral sphere shot into the sky.

It floated in the air, emitting intense pulses of electricity.

With endless rotation, it gradually accelerated, and the aftermath of the pulses scratched and swallowed the ground.

Screech!!

Enduring the ringing that threatened to tear my eardrums, I raised my head.

Dozens of flashes of light condensed into a single point at the tip of the flashing blue light.

It compressed.

Tore through space.

And pierced through.

Kaboom!!

The pouring blue bombardment swept over where I was standing.

****

Boom!!

The place swept by the electric bombardment was filled with thick soot, everything obliterated by the high-voltage current.

The leader of the White-Haired Clan, Arkaban.

She naturally thought this was the end.

It was a bombardment unleashed using five White Wheels, the clan’s unique ability to amplify magical power.

Not only that.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Following her attack, the bombardments of the clan members who had come with her poured down in succession.

The view was blurred by the thick dust, but it was clear that he couldn’t be unscathed.

Adina, born with innate anti-magic properties, might have survived, but no one else could.

Even if he had deployed some strange defensive technique, it would have been the same.

The source of all energy ultimately stemmed from Mana, and the White-Haired Clan’s Mana had the characteristic of devouring the opponent’s Mana.

The strongest spear that could penetrate any defense—that was the pride of the White-Haired Clan.

Yes.

That was how it *should* have been.

“……What?”

A dark figure appeared behind the dust cloud.

They were standing perfectly fine, their clothes not even ruffled, as if they hadn’t been affected at all.

Before them unfolded a scene as if time had stopped.

The flashing blue bombardment that had been pouring down was frozen in midair, as was the magic of the clan members that followed.

The dust that had risen into the air, the heat haze from the electricity—everything was frozen.

As if the flow of time itself had been frozen.

Everything created with Mana was displayed in mid-air, like stuffed animals.

Arkaban gasped involuntarily.

She couldn’t understand.

It was a shock.

Holding the electrically charged mana in the air was completely different from simply blocking it.

Within that bizarre scene, the man in front of her slowly started walking.

Step by step.

One step.

And another step.

He stood before the dumbfounded Arkaban and stared directly into her eyes.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

And, he slowly opened his mouth.

“That *you* are the one tarnishing the face of the clan.”

The tattoo below his right eye glowed blue.

It was the spot where the Rune of Time was inscribed.